The present invention relates to an input unit which inputs the operation orders and set information, necessary to automatic sales operations, into an automatic vending machine.
In recent years, various new functions have been added to an automatic vending machine. Such new functions include display of sales money-amount and sales number, confirmation of multi-vending, column alternation, exchange, set selling prices, vending tests, etc. In any of them, the automatic vending machine needs inputs of the operation orders and setting information. For example, the display functions of the sales money-amount and the sales number are adapted to display on a display unit the sales total amount, the sales total number, which are calculated and stored for each of the sales operations, through the inputting of the operation orders for the sales money-amount and the sales number display. Generally speaking, the multi-vending indicates a function of continuously selling a plurality of commodities within the inputted money amount. However, in this case, a set information as to the continuous sales number of the commodities the customer wants to buy is required to be inputted. Also, column alternation means a function of alternately discharging a commodity from each sales column each time the commodity is selected by a customer when the same kinds of commodities are accommodated within two columns or more. In this case, the set information as to which column used as column alternation is required to be inputted. Besides, the confirmation display of the set selling prices is adapted to display on the display unit the selling price, which has been set to the commodity of the column corresponding to the selection switch, when a selection switch is depressed in a condition where any coins have not been inputted into the automatic vending machine. To cause such confirmation display to be performed, a set information of "display" of the confirmation display is required to be inputted into the automatic vending machine. Likewise the vending test enables the commodities to be sold without the inputting of the coin. In this case, the operation instructions of the vending test and a set information for specifying a column to be vending-tested are required to be inputted. Furthermore, an operation order of the selling price setting and a selling price as a set information are required to be inputted even when the selling price is set with respect to the commodities for each column.
The most common input unit of an automatic vending machine is a keyboard. A coin-operated Musical Machine for selecting and inputting a record performed by a keyboard is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,869,032 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,985,217. An Automatic Drink Dispensing Apparatus for selecting and inputting beverage to be fed by a keyboard is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,991,911. However, to input the above-described various operation orders and the set information by a keyboard, the operating procedure of the keyboard is so complicated that a user who is not used to the operation finds it difficult to operate the keyboard.
When a controlling circuit of an automatic vending machine is microcomputerized as at the present time, to add the new functions required due to the market demands to the completed automatic vending machine may be made only through changes in ROM, wherein the controlling procedures of the automatic sales are stored. However, when the new operation order input and the set information input are required through the addition of the functions, scanning lines necessary to the key and the key scanning are required to be added. The existing keyboard will not follow this requirement.
Also, to set the selling prices in an automatic vending machine, a plurality of two-contact switches were turned on or off to set the selling prices in a binary code as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,056,181. The error operations of the switches or the conversion errors into the binary codes were caused, thus resulting in frequent setting errors.